Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(34)

Then he heard it. A quiet shuffle. A light clink of glass.

Someone was in his house.

He didn’t get any further than that before he jumped up, whacking his shin on something hard that shouldn’t be near his bed, and sprinted, his eyes starting to acclimate to the low light, toward the noise. He cleared the space between his bed and the source of the noise like he was racing for the puck, connecting with its source. He wrapped his arms around the intruder and was about to slam them against the wall when a single noise cut through.

“Caleb.”

Zara.

Everything in him stilled for a second as reality seeped in and he shook off the last of his sleepy confusion. The memories came as fast as heartbeats. He and Zara had made dinner. They’d come back to her place and watched Law & Order. He…must have crashed on her couch like the biggest asshole ever. And now he was holding her, clutched to his chest high enough that her feet were probably dangling in the air.

“Fuck.” He sat her down so she was on her counter and took a step back, bringing up his hands palm forward in apology. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize where I was. I just woke up and heard a noise.”

“At least you’re a better guard dog than Anchovy,” she said, setting down the glass in her hand and shoving her long red hair out of her face. “He’s still snoring.”

Eyes more accustomed to the dim light of early dawn, he glanced back at her bedroom. Bookcases blocked most of it from being seen, but from this angle, he could see the corner of her bed, sheets rumpled, and a dark, unmoving lump that had to be the dog.

“Yeah, you might want to invest in an alarm system,” he said with a laugh as he turned back to her.

As soon as he did, his amusement died away, replaced by a jolt of desire that went straight to his dick.

Like she’d been during their FaceTime conversation the other night, she was wearing a pair of tiny sleep shorts and a thin T-shirt that did nothing to hide the heavy sway of her tits or the way her nipples had formed hard, tempting little peaks. After that call, he’d grabbed his cock and had jerked off to the memory, stroking his dick until he came hard and fast.

Now, here she was, looking at him with desire dark in her eyes, nipples straining against the cotton of her shirt, her legs spread just enough that his could fit in the space between. Lust fired through him, tightening his muscles, hardening his dick, and making every nerve in his body focus only on Zara. All he wanted was to touch her, take her, make her come so hard on him that she wanted to do it again and again.

They shouldn’t do this. It may not be against the rules, but that didn’t make it a good idea.

Too bad it was getting harder and harder each time he was near Zara to remember.

He moved to take a step back, but she reached out, stopping him.

“Kiss me, Caleb,” she said, her voice husky with need.

“What about the rules?” He hated himself for asking, but he was fighting to stick to what she wanted because all he wanted at the moment was her.

“They said no making love. It didn’t mention kissing.”

Maybe there were other men out there who would have continued to fight the attraction, to stay above it all. Well, they weren’t him, because she had found the best loophole in the world.

His mouth was on hers in the next heartbeat and after that, he was lost to her. It wasn’t a nice kiss or a soft kiss; it had to be so much more because it was all they had. Desperate, hungry need ate away at his control as they lost themselves in the exploration of the hard, bruising kiss. Her tongue curling around his, daring him to give her more, demanding it. If it killed him, he was willing to give it all at this moment.

She moaned, her hands clutching his shoulders as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He didn’t think, just reacted, stepping back and taking her with him, his hands cupping her ass as he carried her across the apartment and back to the couch, their mouths never leaving each other.

As soon as he sat down with her in his lap, straddling his hips, she rocked against him, seeking the same maddening friction he needed so damn badly. He tightened his grip on her hips, pulling her against him as she undulated, giving them both a taste of what they so desperately needed.

She arched her back, breaking the kiss and letting out a low mewl of pleasure as she moved against him. Even with the layers of clothes between them, he could feel her heat against his dick. Curling forward, she dipped her head down until their foreheads touched.

“We aren’t kissing,” she said.

He could fix that. Cupping the back of her head, he weaved his fingers through her red hair, pulling her mouth down to his, plundering its dangerous sweetness before trailing his lips down her neck, kissing and nipping his way along the low scooped collar of her T-shirt. She shivered in his arms when his lips brushed the upper swell of her tits, and he knew at that moment, the same way he knew the second he delivered a check, what the outcome would be. It wouldn’t be today, and it may not even be by date five, but he was going to persuade her that there was more to this—more to them—than a PR stunt.

“Zara,” he said, looking up at her as the sun turned the sky pink and gave the apartment a soft glow. “I want to kiss you here.” His thumb brushed over the hard tip of her still-covered nipple. “Can I kiss you there?”

He reached between them, inching the hem of her T-shirt up as he watched her face for any sign to stop, and when she pulled the bottom of her shirt out of his grasp and took it off, he offered up a prayer of thanks.